2000 Jaguar XKR Paramount

Believed to be originally supplied to the Netherlands but in RHD specification, this XKR 400 Convertible with automatic transmission, was first registered in the UK in May 2000 to the CEO of a London insurance underwriting firm. Two months later he handed it to Paramount Performance for conversion to their specification at a total cost of £19,275.87.

The second owner from Eastbourne kept the car from the mid-noughties for around a dozen years and loved it so much they even thought of taking it to Spain with them when they emigrated. Apparently it was either the Jaguar or buying a boat when they got there. The boat won!

The current owner - only its third - bought the car in June 2017 as a present for his wife. They had been looking for a car in this colour but although available in other Jaguar models, it seems rather rare for the XK.

Like its previous two owners, they’ve kept the car in a heated garage when not in use and have used it sparingly, mostly just for fun rides out on a weekend. Now with a young child and a big dog, the XKR is no longer practical and having only one garage space they are, rather reluctantly, letting it go.

The exterior of the car is finished in what Jaguar calls Seafrost metallic - a silvery green with a hint of blue. The paint is in very good condition with just a small handful of age-related marks and blemishes, nothing of any great significance.

Visually, the Paramount conversion involved a number of exterior changes; including a new crimped mesh front grille, nose and rear restyled with carbon fibre fairings, aluminium side sill sponsons and Paramount badges. It was also lowered by 30mm all round.

The fabric folding roof looks in good order with minimal creasing and it operates as it should.

The XKR sits on customised 19-inch OZ Futura split rims with centre spinners - part of the Paramount conversion - which necessitated minor modifications to the arches to ensure clearances. All are fitted with Pirelli PZero tyres.

Overall, the car’s exterior presentation is very good and the well executed Paramount modifications give it a very distinctive and highly performant look.

The exterior of the car is finished in what Jaguar calls Seafrost metallic - a silvery green with a hint of blue. The paint is in very good condition with just a small handful of age-related marks and blemishes, nothing of any great significance.

Visually, the Paramount conversion involved a number of exterior changes; including a new crimped mesh front grille, nose and rear restyled with carbon fibre fairings, aluminium side sill sponsons and Paramount badges. It was also lowered by 30mm all round.

The fabric folding roof looks in good order with minimal creasing and it operates as it should.

The XKR sits on customised 19-inch OZ Futura split rims with centre spinners - part of the Paramount conversion - which necessitated minor modifications to the arches to ensure clearances. All are fitted with Pirelli PZero tyres.

Overall, the car’s exterior presentation is very good and the well executed Paramount modifications give it a very distinctive and highly performant look.

Under the bonnet, to gain performance, Paramount fitted a custom air induction system and performance air filter. They also fitted a large-bore exhaust backwards from the cat. It is understood that their modifications took the power output from 370 bhp to 400 bhp. All looks clean and in good order around the engine bay.

The undersides appear relatively clean and free of any obvious damage and have good underseal coverage across the floor panels. Subframes and suspension structures have an established layer of surface rust and there is some minor corrosion to the rear wheel arch inner edges, particularly on the off side.

Inside the boot the carpet and linings look clean and tidy, and the warning triangle is still fitted under the boot lid. Set into the offside wall is the CD changer, and under the floor is the battery and a temporary-use spare wheel with wheel brace and scissor jack..

The car doesn’t have a current MoT, its last expiring back in August. The vendor asked THE MARKET to take it for an MoT test this week (mid-Dec'22) which it duly did, and it passed everything apart from the bushes need replacing. The MoT tester cheerfully commented that they're £150 for the parts plus labour to fit. This will need to be done by the winning bidder before it's re-tested.

The online history shows reasonable performance over the years and also validates the current odometer reading, which at 48k miles is low for the age of car.

The history file contains several old MoT reports and numerous invoices, mostly from Harwoods Jaguar in Chichester and Caffyns Jaguar in Eastbourne from the early noughties to the mid-teens. Rather humorously, the Caffyns MOT tester in 2007 gave an advisory that the exhaust was noisy! He clearly hadn’t seen (or heard) a Paramount XKR before.

Piecing the service history together it appears it was Jaguar main dealer maintained from new until 2017.

With Jaguar recently announcing that it is to be a solely electric car manufacturer by 2025, the days of fast, elegant sports cars with growling V8 firepower are numbered.

The first generation XKR effortlessly blends classic lines with a modern feel and is more than capable of keeping up with the latest sports coupés and convertibles if desired. On the other hand it will also gently waft you along the highways and byways if that is more your thing.

In the words of the vendor - “You can’t help but smile when you drive it - the noise is just stupendous!”

A Paramount Performance tuned XKR is highly sought after and this is a nice, low mileage example upgraded not long after new. Even so, the market being what it is, we think you could bag this 400 bhp big cat for between £12,000 and £16,000. That’s a steal at only £30 a horse!

Viewing is always encouraged, and this particular car is located with us at The Market HQ near Abingdon; we are open weekdays 9am-5pm, to arrange an appointment please use the Contact Seller button at the top of the listing. Feel free to ask any questions or make observations in the comments section below, or try our ‘Frequently Asked Questions’.